MEM23811 - Possible Mesolithic features on Lanacombe (Monument)

The earliest in a complex of intercutting excavated features measured c. 1.3 metres wide and 0.26 metres deep. It contained a lens of humic material including charcoal dated to c.6400 BC (later Mesolithic); this may have been residual.

A complex of intercutting features was identified during excavation in 2014. The earliest cut in this sequence was a truncated feature measuring c.1.3 metres wide and c.0.26 metres deep, and was largely filled with re-deposited natural substrate. It did, however, contain a lens of humic material towards the base of the feature, from which a radiocarbon date was obtained. This gave a calibrated date of c.6400 BC (later Mesolithic), which is unexpectedly early; unless corroborated by subsequent radiocarbon dates, it is probable the charcoal was residual.